This invention relates generally to a continuous loop tape cartridge and more particularly to a continuous loop tape cartridge including rewind means.
Tape-like mediums are employed in the recordation of sound, information, digital data and visual images. Such mediums have included magnetic tape, electrostatic tape and film.
It has become common practice, especially in the magnetic tape field, to provide such tape-like mediums in cartridges. Such cartridges have included those which house a pair of spaced reels that can alternately act as take-up and supply reels whereby the tape can be easily rewound for editing and repeating. Another type of extensively used cartridge is the continuous or mobious loop cartridge. In this type of cartridge, a tape coil is carried by a hub disposed in the cartridge housing. The tape is removed from the center convolution of the coil and wound on the outer convolution of the coil. Tape slippage accommodates for the difference in circumferential distance traveled by the inner and outer convolutions. A drawback with such systems has been the inability to rewind or reverse the tape travel for editing and replay.
Several reversible continuous loop cartridges are known. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,894,699; 3,924,269; and 4,015,789 describe a cartridge tape player and a cartridge in which the tape can be reversibly driven. In the rewind mode of operation, the tape is driven by being removed from the outer convolution of the coil and returned to the hub at the inner convolution. The cartridge and apparatus are relatively complex and costly. A special apparatus is required for rewinding the tape.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,719 describes a reverse mechanism for continuous loop tape cartridge. More particularly, the cartridge includes a tape reel and a rewind reel coaxially mounted. The tape reel and rewound reel are driven by drive wheels which engage the tape on the respective reels. The wheels are driven by the cartridge back-up roller via suitable drive means such as a drive belt. the capstan of the associated player provides the forward and reverse drive forces for driving the tape in the forward and reverse direction. The rewind reel includes a one-way clutch means so that it does not drive the associated tape and reel in the forward direction. Although the cartridge is simpler than those described above, it is still relatively complex and expensive to manufacture.
In my U.S. Pat. No. 3,252,670 there is described a reversible cartridge in which the tape is reversibly driven by drawing it from the outer convolution of the winding or coil and employing the coil to frictionally rotate an associated take-up reel which rests upon the coil. The take-up reel includes means for assuring that the diameter of the reel is substantially equal to the diameter of the outer convolution of the main winding. The two reels interact providing possibility of uneven forces giving rise to wow and flutter.